Pound flash crash; U.K. airlines slump; U.S. jobs report

1. Pound crashes: Investors in Britain woke up to discover the pound suffered a mysterious flash crash during the wee hours of the night, plunging 6% to $1.18.

The currency quickly recovered most of its losses to trade around $1.23. The jury is still out on what triggered the brief episode, but computer trading algorithms likely played a role.

The pound was already under pressure because of worries that Britain is heading for a "hard" exit from the European Union. The currency is now down more than 16% since the U.K. voted in June to leave the bloc.

Trading was mixed in Europe, with Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both down more than 0.2%. Britain's FTSE 100 continued its habit of posting gains while the pound falls. Multinationals listed on the index benefit from a weaker pound because they earn their profits abroad before converting them to sterling.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite posted a small gain, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Tokyo's Nikkei closed their final trading sessions of the week with losses of less than 1%.